Grain-door for cars.



No. 737,018. PAT-ENTED AUG. 25, 1903.

v H. FRIES-8E1. w. MEYER.

GRAIN DOOR FOR CARS. V

N0.*737,018. PATENTED AUG. 25, 1903.

H. FRIES & J. W. MEYER.

GRAIN DOOR FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED D20. 23. 1902.

no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

VIII/IIIIIII/III/n 'II/I/I/IIIIIIm/A a mlmvfrv'ay HOTO-LFI'NO wAsmNcmu uc side of the car.

UNITED STATES Patented August 25, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN FRIES AND JOHN V. MEYER, OF MICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 737,018, dated August25, 1903. Application filed December 23, 19Q2. Serial No. 136,376. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it II'I/(I/Z/ con/corn: 4

Be it known that we, HERMAN PRIES and JOHNWVJ/IEYERmitizens of theUnited States, and residents of Michigan City, county of La Porto andState of Indiana, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements inGrain- Doors for Cars, of which the following is a specification, andwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a partthereof.

rangement and combination of parts herein-' after particularlydescribed, specifically designated in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view of the door from thein- Fig. 2 is a View of the outer side of the door removed from the car.Fig. 3 is a section on the line now of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section onthe line y y of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a section on the line of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and *l,there is shown a portion of the side ofa car, 10 indicating the roof, 11 the floor, and 12 the vertical sideposts of the discharging opening or doorway thereof. The usual slidingdoor adapted to close the door-opening from the outside is not shown.Located adjacent the inner face of each of the posts 12 is a metalguide-strip 13, which is secured to a vertical rib let,provided in theconstruction illustrated, as shown in Fig. 3, by cutting on the innerface of the post parallel recesses or grooves 15, the edges of the plate13 projecting laterally beyond the rib and over the said grooves. Itwill be obvious that the strip 13 and the rib 1e may be integral,although this is immaterial. The grain-door 16, normally closing thelower end of the discharge-opening of the car, is somewhat wider thanthe said opening, its ends extending, as shown in Figs. land 3, somewhatpast the adjacent inner edges of the hinge members 17 are secured byclips 20,

bolted to the door and embracing lateral extensions 21of'thehinge-plates and secured by bolts 22. When the door is mounted inposition, the fingers 18 of the hinge members are located at oppositesides of the strips 13, and the lugs 19 extend and slide, as shown inFig. 3, in the grooves 15 of the door-posts be hind the guide-strip andengage the projecting lateral edges or flanges of the latter, the saidlugs being slightly offset outwardly from the outer faces of the plates17 in order that they may extend behind the strips 13. In'the hingesshown the plate 17 of each has on its outer face at the opposite edgesflanges 18, and the fingers 18 are a continuation of these flanges.

the hinges to slide easily on the strips 13. By this arrangement tiltingand consequent binding of the hinges on the guide-strips are avoided.

The grooves 15 in-the posts 12 need be only as long as the range of thesliding movement of the door, as shown in Fig. 1; but the strips 13 arepreferably extended the length of the door-posts, the purpose being toprevent the driving of nailsinto the posts adjacent to the ends or uppercorners of the door, which is sometimes done, thoughquite-unnecessarily, in order to hold the door against vibration andrattling to prevent shaking out and spilling the grainand results ininjury to the car.

Such flanges and the fingers' are spaced apart just sufficiently topermit The strips 13 at the upper end are provided the same when it isswung inwardly and secured to the top of the car by a latch or catch inthe usual manner. The lower faces of the hooks 26 are inclined parallelwith the lower inclined ends of the loops 23, and the upper ends of thegrooves 15 terminate in the space between the hook and the bottom of theloop. In consequence of this arrangement the lower outer faces of thehooks deflect the pivot-lugs or pintles 19 of the hinges inwardly, whichare then directed outwardly and into engagement with the hooks 26 by thecurved portions 24 of the guide-strips l3.

Secured near the bottom of the outer face of the door 16 and adjacentthe edges of the same are guide plates or blocks 27, and these aresecured apart a distance slightly less than the width between thedoor-posts to permit of some lateral play of the door in order tocompensate for irregularities in the said posts due to warping or othercauses, and for the same reason the extensions 21 of the hinges areprovided with horizontal slots 28, (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2,)through which the securing-bolts 22 pass, permitting lateral play of thedoor on the hinges, the extensions 21 being loosely held by the clips20.

In order to relieve the pressure of the grain against the main door 16,so as to permit of the elevation of the latter, an opening is providednear the bottom of same and closed by a panel-door hinged, as at 30, atits upper edge to the door 16.. Owing to the excessive pressure uponthis door, difficulty has heretofore been encountered in releasing thesame. To overcome this difliculty, there is provided a pair of latches31, pivoted to the door 16 below the door 29, and which latches areadapted to engage the lower edge of the panel-door or, preferably,beveled plates 32, which plates may, as shown in Fig. 2, be extensionsof the hinges 30. The latches 31 have extensions or arms 33, which inorder to provide for simultaneous movement of the same are pivotallyconnected by a rod or bar 34, which may have a hook or eye 35 for theengagement of an operating-tool. The latches 31 are held againstmovement by dogs 36, pivoted adjacent opposite sides of the same andengaging the extensions 33 thereof, and when it is designed to releasethe panel-door these dogs are thrown or tilted outwardly. In order toeffectually lock the latches 31 and also to prevent the dogs fromslipping past them, the engaging faces of the dogs 36 are straight, asare also the faces of the extensions 33, engaged thereby; but these dogsmay be readily thrown out of action, the lower ends of the engagingfaces thereof being curved inwardly toward the pivots of the same, asseen in Fig. 2, so as to clear the extensions when the dogs are raised.

The panel-door is provided with strips 37 at the edges of the same toclose all interstices and prevent leakage of the grain when thepanel-door is closed.

The usual auxiliary door 38 may be provided and loosely hinged, as at39, to the upper edge of the door 16 and designed to swing upwardly toclose the opening above-the latter. When the door 16 is to be elevatedand swung open, the auxiliary door may be folded against the same, asshown in Fig. 4, so as not to interfere with the movement of the door 16when it is hung up to the roof of the car.

We claim as our invention- 1. In combination, a pair of guide-strips, adoor, sliding members secured to the door and having prolonged flangesembracing both edges of each strip, and. extensions projecting inwardlyfrom such flanges back of the strips.

2. In combination, a pair of door-posts, run-.

provided with prolonged flanges embracing both edges of each strip, andextensions projecting inwardly from such flanges back of.

the strips.

3. In combination, a pair of door-posts, runway-strips attached to theposts and having their edges spaced therefrom, a door, hingeplatesprovided with slotted extensions, clips embracing the extensions andhaving bolts passing throughthe slots and into the door, prolongedflanges on the hinge-plates embracing the edges of the strips, and lugsprojecting inwardly from said flanges back of the strips.

4:. In combination with a car having a dooropening, a pair ofdoor-posts, runway-strips attached to the posts and having their edgesspaced therefrom, a door, hinge-plates secured to the door and havingprolonged flanges embracing the edges of the strips, pintles projectinginwardly from such flanges back of the strips, the upper ends of thestrips being inclined inwardly and then curved toward the side of thecar, and hooks located between the upper ends of the strips and the sideof the car and having their lower ends spaced from and inclined parallelwith the inclinations of the strips.

5. In a grain-door, in combination, a pair of vertical guide-strips,hinges each of which is provided with inwardly-extending pintlesslidably engaging the opposite edgesof the adjacent guide-strip andinward extensions having horizontal slots, clips fixed to the door andembracing the extensions, bolts passing through the clips and the slotsin the extensions, and hooks at the upper ends of the strips to receivethe hinge-pintles.

6. In combination, a car provided with Vertical door-posts, a rib on theinner face of each of the posts, a guide-strip secured to the rib andhaving its edges extending laterally beyond the rib, a door, hingeslocated at the upper corners of the door and each of which is providedwith a pair of inwardly-extending pintles fitting under the guide-stripand engaging the oppositelyprojecting edges of the same, an extension oneach hinge provided with a horizontal slot, a clip fixed to the door andembracing each extension, a bolt passing through the clip and the slotin the extension, and hooks at the upper end of the guide-strips toreceive the hinge-pintles.

7. In a grain-door having an opening, a hinged panel-door closing theopening, a pair of latches pivoted to the main door and engaging thepanel-door, extensions on the latches, a rod pivotally connected at itsends to the extensions, and dogs'pivoted to the main door adjacent theopposite sides of the extensions and normally engaging the same.

8. In a grain-door having an opening near the bottom of the same, apanel-door hinged at its upper edge to the main door and closing theopening, a pair of latches pivoted to the main door below the opening,beveled plates secured to the panel-door and engaged by the latches,downward extensions on the latches, a rod pivotally connected at itsends to the extensions, and dogs pivoted to the main door adjacent theopposite sides of the extensions and normally engaging the same andprovided with flat faces terminating in rearwardly-curved lower ends.

9. In combination with a car having a dooropening, vertical stripssecured at opposite sides of the opening,a door,hinge members attachedto the upper corners of the door and each having prolonged flangesembracing both edges of the adjacent strip, and extensions projectinginwardly from such flanges back of the strip the upper ends of thestrips being inclined inwardly and then curved backward to the side ofthe car, and hooks lo cated between the upper ends of the strips and thesides of the car and having their lower ends spaced from and inclinedparallel to the inclines of the strips.

10. In combination, a pair of door-posts, runway-strips attached to theposts and having their edges spaced therefrom, a door, hinge-platessecured to the door and having prolonged flanges embracing the edges ofthe strips,and ln gs projecting inwardly from such flanges back of thestrips.

HERMAN PRIES. JOHN W. MEYER.

